Clinical Psychology Fellowship

The Department of Pediatrics at West Virginia University School of Medicine offers a one or two year fellowship program in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, with an emphasis in Neurodevelopment. One position is offered each year, with the option of a 2^nd year pending agreement between the resident and Fellowship Director.

Description of Training Program

The Postdoctoral Residency in Neurodevelopment has been designed to provide trainees with expertise and clinically relevant experience within the field of neurodevelopment, specifically the diagnosis and treatment of children with developmental delays and disorders. The goal of the program is to prepare trainees for independent practice as a psychologist working within the field of neurodevelopment. Trainees will become familiar with treatment options for developmental disorders including behavioral and medical modalities. 

Trainees will become proficient in the assessment and diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and other neurodevelopmental disabilities and developmental delays. To this end, the core rotation of the program includes participation in WVU Medicine Children’s multidisciplinary Neurodevelopment Program at the Neurodevelopmental Center (NDC). As part of this rotation, the trainee will receive in depth training and supervision related to the provision of comprehensive psychological evaluations. Additional rotations within the program will be assigned throughout the year and will include leading group psychotherapy and social skills groups, individual behavior therapy, observation of Applied Behavior Analysis, and involvement in specialty care pediatric clinics (e.g., craniofacial and cerebral palsy).

In addition, the trainee will receive educational experiences to complement knowledge of neurodevelopment, Autism, and related comorbidities. Additional rotations within the Department of Pediatrics may include the interdisciplinary feeding clinic, co-treatment with Occupational, Speech, and Physical therapy providers (NDC), and pediatric integrated care services.

Four days per week will be spent in clinical services with ½ day allocated for education/didactic, and ½ day for research or EPPP/Licensure preparation. The trainee will become involved ongoing grant projects and QI initiatives. 

Clinical supervision is provided by Jenna Wallace, Psy.D. and Claire Baniak, Psy.D. Additional research and professional supervision is provided by Christina Duncan, Ph.D, and Krestin Radonovich, Ph.D.

Didactics

The resident will attend Pediatric Grand Rounds, weekly Neurodevelopment didactics, and Behavioral Medicine Grand Rounds. They will also participate in didactic trainings alongside psychology residents and interns in the Departments of Behavioral Medicine and Pediatrics.

Supervision Experience

The fellow serves as a supervisor for psychology interns and practicum students as part of a vertical training model, in conjunction with the Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry’s APA- Accredited Clinical Child Psychology Internship program and WVU’s Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program.